Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.0mw
Earthquake near Blue Lake, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Blue Lake in the 24 hours to 9:53 pm PST (05:53 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 145 km (90 mi) WSW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Blue Lake
This page: a magnitude 4.0 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) southeast of Blue Lake, CA, at 11:39 pm PDT on 14 May 2024 (06:39 UTC), 26 km deep. 926 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 9 km SE of Blue Lake, CA
- When
- 11:39 pm PDT on 14 May 2024 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) southeast of Blue Lake, CA · earthquakes near Blue Lake
- Magnitude
- M 4.0 (mw)
- Depth
- 26 km below the surface
- Felt
- 926 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Nearest
- Humboldt County, 14 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mad River fault, under 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 195 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Blue Lake, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Blue Lake, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 95 km (59 mi) from the epicentre. In Blue Lake, 9 km away, the estimate is intensity III (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Likely felt in: Bayside 14 km, intensity III · McKinleyville 21 km, intensity III · Eureka 22 km, intensity III · Willow Creek 26 km, intensity III · Humboldt Hill 27 km, intensity III · Fortuna 33 km, intensity III · Rio Dell 40 km, intensity III · Ferndale 41 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 16 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 10,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 470× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 330× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.0 about 16 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 34× more
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.3 on 2023-01-01 — about 99 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.2 The 1980 Eureka, California Earthquake · 44 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.5 The 1932 Eureka, California Earthquake · 34 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 2 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Rio Dell, California · 44 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Eureka, California · 9 km WSW of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 40.8283, -123.9018. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt County, CA | 14 km (9 mi) | S | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Trinity County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Del Norte County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | N | earthquakes near Del Norte County |
| Siskiyou County, CA | 142 km (88 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Siskiyou County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
33 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.0 27 km SE of Rio Dell, CA
- 3.4 3 km ENE of Fortuna, CA
- 1.8 25 km ENE of Hydesville, CA
- 1.6 22 km E of Hydesville, CA
- 2.0 12 km SE of Pine Hills, CA
- 1.8 2 km SE of Fortuna, CA
- 1.9 3 km ESE of Fortuna, CA
- 2.0 4 km ENE of Blue Lake, CA
- 2.1 10 km W of Rio Dell, CA
- 1.6 26 km ESE of Rio Dell, CA
- 2.1 18 km S of Willow Creek, CA
- 1.7 18 km ESE of Hydesville, CA
- 2.3 3 km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
- 1.6 26 km SE of Rio Dell, CA
- 2.4 19 km ENE of Willow Creek, CA
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.